“Since the end of 2023, with even less development taking place, second-hand supply has meant the vacancy rate of Open A1 non-food units has dropped to 5.5% from 6.0%. A further 2.8 million sq. ft. of space is currently under offer with another 691,000 sq. ft. earmarked for non-retail redevelopment, meaning the percentage of space actually available to let is as low as 3.3%.””
Retail warehousing vacancy rates in the UK have once again fallen, now at 5.1% at the end of Q2 2024 according to the latest research by Trevor Wood Associates (TWA), compared to 5.8% at the turn of the year and 5.6% at Q1 2024.The major contributor to the significant fall in vacancy is retailers continuing to take advantage of the amount of second-hand supply made available by various administrations and CVA’s, so far in 2024 over 0.95 million sq. ft. of vacant space has been taken and 3.889 million sq. ft. in total has opened or is due to open this year.
The Grocery sector continues to thrive on established parks or retail warehouse sites with Lidl opening 129,000 sq. ft. out of town while Iceland and the food WAREHOUSE have added 112,000 sq. ft. and Farmfoods added over 98,000 sq. ft. of space to their portfolios. The usual suspects also continue to lead the way in taking vacant space, B & M have opened or have committed to open another 20 units and Home Bargains added another 269,000 sq.ft. to their portfolio. Pure Gym opened (or will open) another 172,000 sq. ft. and Sports Direct added another 6 units while Marks & Spencer and M & S Food Hall collectively added another 177,000 sq. ft. since the end of last year.
The size of units and retailer requirements are also changing with over 459,000 sq. ft. of lettings in 2024 taken by retailers in units of 5,000 sq. ft. or below. We continue to see the rise of drive-thrus and drive-tos with Costa Coffee, Greggs, McDonald’s and Starbucks increasing their presence in the booming drive-thru market.
After completing our analysis of the Q2 vacancy rate figure, Carpetright announced their administration on the 22nd July with 214 units on retail warehousing schemes accounting for over 1,978,000 sq. ft. of floorspace. Tapi have rescued 48 of those units, totalling 430,000 sq. ft. which has helped ease the impact of the administration. However, the remaining vacant units have temporarily increased the vacancy rate to 5.9%. This figure should be treated with caution as good quality retail warehousing space is in short supply and by the time we publish our Q3 figures later this year it’s very likely a considerable amount of this space will already be let or under offer.
Image credits: William - stock.adobe.com